I have three hard drives on my computer, one running Linux Mint 18.1, one running Windows 10, and the third dedicated to storage with no OS. After installing Mint and using GRUB to boot, I want to remove the Linux drive and boot only to the Windows drive. I've tried removing the Linux drive and repairing the MBR, but GRUB still persists. How would I go about reverting to a Windows-only system?
26 Answers
I did the same following this steps from Windows 10 recovery console:
c:
Bootrec /fixmbr
Bootrec /fixboot
Bootrec /scanos
Bootrec /rebuildbcd
exit 1 Open an elevated Command prompt and enter the following command:
bootsect /nt60 <drive name>: /mbr. e.g
bootsect /nt60 c: /mbr
type exit, then reboot.
Note you can also achieve this in recovery menu during advanced startup (i.e Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt)
For UEFI using a GPT HDD just go into the bios and remove ubuntu from the boot options.
0Run Windows PowerShell as Administrator
(Press Windows key, type powershell, right click, Run as Administrator)
Type
mountvol S: /S(You're basically mounting the boot sector to S: )
Type
S:and press enterType
cd .\EFI\and press enterType
Remove-Item -Recurse .\ubuntu\and press enter
While I'm sure that bootsect would fix the issue, I just went ahead and re-installed and repartitioned Windows after removing the Linux hard drive. Not the best method, but it achieved the same result and cleaned the OS a bit in the process.
Simple Answer: Reinstall Windows Completely
Complicated Answer: Rebuild Windows MBR
Open an elevated Command prompt and enter the following command:
bootsect /nt60 c: /mbr
shutdown /rThis can also be run by pressing F8 and getting into the Recovery Command Prompt.